


a soft universe

by andnowforyaya



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21632131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andnowforyaya/pseuds/andnowforyaya
Summary: He finally found the key he was looking for: it was still new and shiny from lack of use, but stood apart from the others from the splash of tiny diamonds that had been encrusted into the custom-made key head.“So you’d never even think to lose it,” Ten had told him when they’d gifted Kun the key in a black velvet box.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Qian Kun/Everyone, Suh Youngho | Johnny/Qian Kun
Comments: 32
Kudos: 225
Collections: kuniversism





	a soft universe

**Author's Note:**

> #

speak to me

With love in your words

make for me

A soft universe

[ Soft universe, aurora ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBZx2PtrT60)

.

Kun dug out a set of keys and keycards from his pocket and rifled through each unique set -- there were the keys to his cars back home in Hong Kong, to his apartment near the edge of the city, to Sicheng’s flat in London, to Johnny’s home in Chicago, to Jaehyun’s condo in Los Angeles. It was a heavy accessory to carry around with him in his messenger bag, but the weight was a reminder of who was waiting for him every time he touched the wheels of a Boeing-777 down on a different tarmac. 

He finally found the key he was looking for: it was still new and shiny from lack of use, but stood apart from the others from the splash of tiny diamonds that had been encrusted into the custom-made key head.

“So you’d never even think to lose it,” Ten had told him when they’d gifted Kun the key in a black velvet box. 

Kun bit into his lip at the memory, rocking on his feet as giddiness took over. He was excited to see Ten, to surprise them, but also nervous. He’d mentioned he’d be flying out to Bangkok over the summer, and made sure that the days he’d be taking as vacation in the city were days that Ten would be around also. Ten was clever; Kun knew Ten knew why he was asking. He wondered what was waiting for him, and if anything had changed. Sometimes, it felt like every time he touched down in a different city, the world had progressed another year while Kun was stagnant in the air.

He adjusted his collar and ran his hands down over the front of his shirt. He was still in his pilot’s uniform as he’d come straight from the airport to Phrom Phong, where Ten’s condo sat nestled in a quiet development away from the hustle and bustle of the city. His small carry-on suitcase stood next to his feet. With a breath, he fit the key into the lock and opened the door.

He was met with quiet. With careful movements, Kun closed the door behind him and stepped out of his shoes. The sun was just barely over the horizon and filled the open living room and kitchen area with gray light. He left his suitcase by the door and padded in socked feet into the hallway that led to the bedroom and bathroom, debating between the scenarios playing out in his head of the best way to surprise his partner, who was undoubtedly still sleeping soundly in their bed. 

Should he wash up and slip quietly under the sheets so that Kun would be the first thing Ten saw when they awoke? Should he prepare breakfast in the kitchen? 

Regardless of what he chose, he wanted to see Ten. He loved the way they looked when they were sleeping, and his heart ballooned inside of his chest at the image of Ten buried under blankets, sleep-soft and warm.

He paused outside of the bedroom door and nudged it open, peeking inside. It was dark here, too, with the curtains drawn, but what little light that managed to seep through illuminated the figures on the bed.

Wait. Figures?

Kun approached quietly, panicking for a moment that he’d gone and inadvertently broken into a stranger’s apartment. Ten wouldn’t have given him a faulty key, would they? He neared the bed and relaxed when he saw that Ten was one of the figures under the covers, buried under layers of blankets. He looked beyond Ten and saw another familiar face.

Xuxi was spooning Ten from behind, his face tucked between Ten’s shoulder blades. Kun gasped in delight, and that tiny sound was enough to make both Ten and Xuxi stir.

Ten squinted an eye open first, groaning at being woken up. When they saw Kun before them, they tried to open both eyes, smiling widely as they stretched, dislodging Xuxi from their back in the process. “Kun…”

“Hey, baby,” Kun whispered, heart flipping over. He came closer, and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Surprise…” Ten announced quietly, still fighting off sleep. They hummed in satisfaction when Kun reached over to card his fingers through their messy hair. It was getting longer, and Kun loved it. “I brought you a Xuxi.”

“I meant to surprise  _ you _ ,” Kun laughed.

“Well, I found you out. You’re not subtle,” Ten mumbled. “It’s early. Come cuddle for another hour before we have to wake up.”

“I should wash up,” Kun whispered, still petting Ten. “I smell like the airport and I’ve been in these clothes for far too long.”

“Then make it fast so you can come back and hold me,” Ten demanded.

Kun leaned over to kiss them on the forehead, and when Ten whined and puckered up their lips, he laughed and kissed them there, too. “This is the best surprise,” Kun said. “I promise I won’t make you wait long.”

.

When Kun stepped out of the shower, Ten and Xuxi were awake and making out on the bed. He toweled at his hair and trailed water on Ten's expensive floors as he walked, boxers slung low over his hips.

"Oh I see," he mused aloud. Xuxi's hands covered nearly the whole expanse of Ten's naked, narrow back. "I go for a shower and you start without me. Shall I just go make breakfast then?"

Xuxi pulled back from Ten's neck where he'd been sucking a bruise into their skin and whined, "Nooo...you're so sexy, Kun. Join us."

Ten laughed breathlessly and wriggled in Xuxi's lap, making him gasp and twitch. "Yeah, join us," they teased. They fluttered their eyelashes at Kun and blew him a kiss, completely comfortable in their own skin, and Kun couldn't help but think back on those first few months he was getting to know Ten and how every single moment of struggle and uncertainty had been worth it because of the way Ten smiled now. Because of the way Xuxi giggled into Ten's chest. Because of the way Sicheng insisted on pictures of them all together as soon as Kun texted him that Ten had surprised him with one of their boyfriends.

Ten might have been with them the shortest amount of time so far, but they fit in with Kun and Kun's many loved ones like a glove.

Kun took Ten's hand and leaned into the kiss waiting on their lips, lips that were soft and a little wet and tasted like mint. "Mmm, did you brush your teeth already?" Kun murmured against Ten's closed mouth.

"In the other bathroom, while you were showering," Ten whispered.

"You're so hot." Kun groaned as the kiss deepened. 

"Xuxi did, too," Ten chirped. They sat back as Kun crawled onto the bed to join them, and Xuxi kissed him. "Isn't he a good boy?"

"The best," Kun said. He ran his fingers through Xuxi's hair. Xuxi preened.

"Are you surprised I'm here, Kun?"

"Very."

"It was Ten's idea. And I happened to get booked for a shoot this week in Bangkok. It's fate."

"And I've got  _ so _ many plans for us," Ten said, rolling off of Xuxi and spreading themself luxuriously across Kun's lap. They butted their head against Kun's stomach like a kitten asking to be pet, so Kun pet them while turning into Xuxi's sweet kisses.

"What's first on the agenda?" Kun asked between pecks.

"Giving you the messiest, bestest blow job of your life," Ten said. "You've worked so hard for so long, baby. I'm sure you've got some...tension you want to work out."

Kun hummed appreciatively. "I do," he said. "You sure you can handle all my tension?"

Ten rolled their eyes. “Please," they said, and ducked under the covers with a flourish.

.

Second on the agenda was brunch, but at a much later and more reasonable hour, after the three of them had ample time to sleep in. The sun had already passed its highest point in the day and was starting its descent by the time they were all dressed and ready to head out.

Dressed down from his uniform, Kun felt almost too casual in slim jeans and a dark, fitted t-shirt, no matter how Ten insisted that there wasn’t a dress code for the restaurant where they were going. Never mind that Ten was dressed to impress in a long, flowing skirt that just brushed their ankles and a top that was more lace than fabric. Xuxi, at least, was dressed similarly to Kun. Flanked on either side of Ten, Kun wondered that they might be seen as Ten’s staff.

“Are you sure what we’re wearing is okay?” Kun asked for the third time as Ten put the finishing touches on their eyeshadow in the bathroom mirror. He was someone who felt much more comfortable in his pilot's uniform. Xuxi was experimenting with lip tints, puckering his lips into the mirror beside Ten.

“Of course,” Ten insisted. “Kun, you look perfect in whatever you’re in.”

“Right, but,” Kun protested lightly. “You look  _ amazing _ .”

Ten flushed slightly and patted their cheeks (streaked with golden highlighter) with their hands. “People take pictures of me wherever I go around here, so I can’t have an off day,” they said with a slight pout.

Xuxi sighed next to Ten. “Ah, to be rich and famous.”

“You are  _ literally  _ the face of Hong Kong,” Ten drawled, checking Xuxi with their hip.

Bracelets adorned Ten’s forearms and wrists. On their right wrist, Kun could see the beaded bracelets he’d gotten them as a gift from Marrakesh. He sauntered into the bathroom and took Ten’s wrist, holding it up to the light before kissing the beads. “You’ll turn heads,” Kun said.

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not. I mean it.” 

“Yes, yes. Ten’s hot, and I’m super hungry,” Xuxi said, rubbing his stomach with his hands. “So can we go? It's mean to starve the baby…”

“Are you the baby in this scenario?”

“I’m the baby in every scenario,” Xuxi quipped with a wink.

Kun rolled his eyes but chuckled, and in the back of his mind he wondered what it would feel like to spend every weekend like this, bickering in the bathroom and getting ready for brunch, trading kisses and sweet nothings just because. What it would feel like not to have to plan each trip carefully, to coordinate logistics and schedules in order to squeeze in a dinner with Johnny in Chicago, or a weekend with Jaehyun in Los Angeles, or a layover in London with Sicheng. Sometimes he wished things were much simpler and easier, and that he could be satisfied calling one city home. 

But that was precisely the problem; Kun had never associated home with a place. To him, home was always the people, and there were so many people he loved.

.

Kun could just imagine the gossip column headlines now:  _ Heir to Lee Enterprises Orders Salad for Brunch! Lacks Vigor to Lead Company?  _ Or  _ Ten Spotted with Hong Kong Supermodel Wong Yukhei, Sparks Rumors of New Romance. _

"Just eat your eggs Benedict, Kun," Ten whispered out of the corner of their mouth, but not before cutting a dainty piece of the western-style quiche on their plate and arranging it on their fork to feed to Kun. "And try this."

"I'll never get used to the cameras," Kun admitted. He allowed Ten to feed him a bite and hummed in appreciation at the salty, buttery flavor that filled his mouth, but he couldn't ignore the sound of shutters going off, even though he was sure he was imagining the noise. The small group of paparazzi weren't inside the restaurant at least, just crowded around the windows looking in. The hostess had seated them at a table near the back of the restaurant, partially obscured by an ornate divider, and Ten sat in the innermost seat tucked against the wall, invisible to the horde outside.

"They just become part of the background after a while," Ten said. They picked at the salad that had come with their quiche, lips turned down slightly. A wrinkle was forming in their brow. They twisted the earring studs in their ears with one hand, their energy nervous and unsettled.

"No one ever writes about me," Kun complained light-heartedly after noticing their small shift in demeanor. "When we go out, I'm convinced everyone thinks I'm your driver. And if we go out with Xuxi, it's always about you two…"

"Aw, does Kun want all the rumors to include him, too?" Ten cooed sarcastically, their voice saccharine.

"Honestly, the notoriety kind of helps me," Xuxi said. He sat with his legs sprawled and his arm slung over the back of the chair, and it was him that the paparazzi were snapping pictures of because of where he was seated, just outside the barrier of the divider. "Indie designers love associating with you, in pretty much any way, Ten. So they love me." He grinned that megawatt smile that got him splashed onto the cover of Hong Kong GQ a couple months ago. 

"So you're just using me," Ten gasped, hand over their chest and eyes twinkling. "For status and clout!"

"Or maybe you're using me?" Xuxi countered.

"Pft, for what?"

"To keep yourself relevant."

"Oh that was  _ mean _ ," Ten said. Their cheeks were turning pink at the smug grin on Xuxi's face. "Wasn't that mean, Kun?"

"Yeah, but you like it."

"I do." Ten said it like it was a new revelation. They turned to Xuxi again and pretty soon the conversation turned to fashion, and though Kun prided himself in being well-dressed and groomed most of the time, he started losing the thread of conversation when Xuxi began dropping names of the smaller designers he was working with. Ten, however, excitedly and animatedly shared their opinion of each.

Kun’s thoughts wandered. He worked his way through his meal and stole bites from both Ten’s and Xuxi’s plates, and allowed them to feed him little bites in turn. He thought about how Xuxi always looked like he was just about to go to a shoot, no matter what state of dress he was in or how many hours of sleep he’d gotten the night before. He thought about Taipei, where he was going next, in just a couple of days. He had a couple of friends in Taipei, but he’d be spending nights in a hotel room alone until his next scheduled flight out, back to Hong Kong. 

A pilot’s life wasn’t necessarily lonely, but he did spend a lot of time being alone. 

It seemed that in the weeks that he hadn’t seen Ten or Xuxi, the two had become closer. Kun felt a moment of displacement, like the earth had shifted beneath his feet, like his consciousness had winked out of his body for just a millisecond. He was an outsider, looking in. He felt like one of the paparazzi beyond the glass, camera pointed to capture the way Ten and Xuxi’s bodies curved towards each other like closed quotation marks. His fork scraped against the plate, and he looked down at the thin layer of pale yellow sauce that was all that was left of his food.

When he raised his eyes again, Ten was looking at him.

“Kun,” Ten said quietly. They reached out and folded their hand over Kun’s on the table, then leaned over to kiss Kun quickly on the cheek. “You okay?”

On Kun’s other side, Xuxi was shifting his chair closer. He curved his hand over Kun’s knee and squeezed gently. “Can you please help me convince Ten not to buy another one of those stupid designer handbags when we go shopping later? They’ve got enough already.”

“The Birkin bag is a better investment than stocks or gold,” Ten huffed, narrowing their eyes at Xuxi.

Kun felt a smile stretch across his face as the two bickered on either side of him. Ten was playing with the short hairs of Kun’s undercut, the touch soothing and grounding. The more heated their argument became, the more Xuxi’s hand traveled up Kun’s thigh.

“Okay, but what about this?” Xuxi said. “You could invest in  _ me  _ instead.”

“Oh, honey. I already do. I invest in all of you.”

Kun laughed, thinking of the diamonds splashed over his keys, his Maserati sitting in his garage in Hong Kong, the black card he knows Ten gave Johnny last summer for emergencies, which included booking last minute flights to Bangkok if Johnny missed them. Any of them.

“Alright, alright,” Kun said amicably. “As much as I’d love to sit here between the two of you as you flirt, the faster we get the shopping done, the faster we can go home. Home, where there’s a bed big enough for all of us.”

Xuxi clicked his tongue. “You make a compelling argument.”

Ten kissed Kun on the temple and then sneaked another peck from the corner of Kun’s mouth. Once they were beyond the divider, there would be no more kisses, so Kun pulled them back and kissed Ten fully on the lips, chuckling at the surprised gasp that escaped the other’s mouth. 

“What would we do without you?” Ten said, laughing. 

.

Ten made a beeline to their bedroom and closet as soon as they walked back into the apartment, yelling behind their shoulder that they’d be putting away their shopping haul, organizing and re-energizing for the next hour, and not to come in under any circumstances as this was a private ritual for them.

Kun and Xuxi, used to this behavior, stood at the counter in the kitchen flipping through recipes on his phone to try to decide what to make for dinner. Xuxi’s eyes would light up with each new screen before he’d deflate a little bit and worry about whether or not they had the proper ingredients for the dish. Ten notoriously kept their refrigerator pretty bare; last time Kun had visited, he’d opened the fridge expecting at least some basics -- eggs and the like -- but all that had rattled around in the shelves in the door were half-empty bottles of chilled white wine. After he’d complained about it to Ten, they promised to at least keep  _ some  _ food in there, and in the freezer and pantry, especially if they knew that Kun were coming around. 

(“I just want to make sure you’re eating,” Kun had emphasized, eyes roaming over the parts of Ten’s body where they’d always visibly lost weight the fastest -- their hips and waist, their cheeks. 

“I am, I promise,” Ten swore. They cocked their head to the side with a bemused grin on their lips. “It’s cute that you’re worried.”)

“This one requires five spice,” Xuxi pointed out as they paused on another recipe. “Ten definitely does not have that.”

“I could make it,” Kun said. “If they’ve got the other spices…”

Xuxi laughed and Kun felt his cheeks heat up, realizing his blunder. Ten didn’t even have pepper in their cabinets. Oh, they had those little paper packets of salt and pepper that often came with carry-out dinners in a dish in the silverware drawer, but no actual pepper shaker or mill. 

“Why is Ten so hopeless with food?” Kun complained.

“Silver spoon syndrome?” Xuxi guessed.

“I just want to make something nice for my boyfriends in this amazing kitchen.”

“I know.” Xuxi looped an arm around Kun’s back and tugged him against his side, pushing his nose into Kun’s hair with a deep inhale. “I missed you, too.”

“Eating too much take-out isn’t good for you,” Kun continued on his rant. “There’s too much salt in the food. And it’s so greasy…”

“Maybe Ten’s got plans for us for dinner,” Xuxi mused aloud. “Don’t worry about it.”

Oh. Kun narrowed his eyes as Xuxi continued to nose at his hair, kissing his ear before trailing his lips down the side of his neck, the taller man needing to bend his knees to do so. Xuxi  _ not  _ worrying about food was highly suspect. “Plans? Do you know something?” Kun asked.

“Uhhhhh…” Xuxi pulled back and blinked at him with wide, startled eyes. He was so easy to read. Kun cupped Xuxi’s face in his hands and drew him down until their lips were nearly brushing, until they were looking directly into each other’s eyes. Xuxi swallowed.

“What’s the surprise?” Kun asked.

“What surprise?” Xuxi squeaked.

Kun sighed, fighting to keep himself from smiling. “Xuxi…” 

Xuxi laughed again, nervous but clearly excited about whatever was waiting for them next. His eyes glittered like jewels. “It’s not bad,” Xuxi explained.

“It better not be.”

The bedroom door banged open behind them. “It’s not,” Ten said. Kun and Xuxi turned at once, and saw Ten standing in the door frame in a long kimono and lacy black briefs. 

Behind them stood Johnny, tall and broad in a suit and towering over Ten. “Surprise,” Johnny announced in his low, husky voice. His smile made Kun’s knees tremble.

.

Xuxi, a being of boundless energy, agreed to go out with Ten’s driver to pick up food for them all as Kun wondered if he’d ever be able to walk again. His legs were liquid and his ass was...the only words that came to mind were  _ thoroughly fucked _ , and the crassness of the language made his belly tighten under Ten’s splayed hand.

“How you doing, baby?” Ten cooed into his ear. They were pressed against Kun’s back, matching every curve of Kun’s body with their own. Kun could feel Ten between his legs, against the backs of his thighs, soft and warm. “You can nap for a bit until Xuxi gets back. We’ll wake you.”

Kun almost wanted to give into sleep, but Johnny was cleaning himself in the bathroom -- only after he’d cleaned up Ten and Kun in bed -- and he already missed him. His heat, the tightness of his arms and shoulders, his voice that reminded Kun of smoke. His eyelids drooped. “Johnny…”

Ten’s soft laughter whisked past his ears like a breeze. “Did we wear you out?”

They did. After Ten had presented Johnny like a gift to be unwrapped in their apartment, Kun had unwrapped him. There was something about Johnny that made Kun feel small in the best of ways, like he was something to be carefully looked after. Of course, he knew Xuxi and Ten and Sicheng and Jaehyun -- all of them -- he knew they loved him, but Xuxi and Ten were mischievous and Jaehyun was sometimes too innocent for his own good and Sicheng needed to be coaxed to show his affections. 

Sometimes Kun just wanted someone else to take control. 

And Johnny was very good at that.

“Hnga,” Kun mumbled, not sure himself what he was trying to say.

Ten laughed again, throwing one leg over Kun’s thighs to snuggle him more closely, like a koala clinging to a tree. “Love you,” they whispered, kissing the back of Kun’s neck.

“Love you,” Kun breathed. 

Johnny came back into the bedroom and smiled at the two of them in bed before sliding under the covers himself. “My favorite people,” he said. He slung one arm across them both and dragged them closer to his chest, Kun sandwiched between.

“Minus…”

“Jaehyun and Sicheng,” Johnny amended with a grin. “And Xuxi. But he’ll be back soon with too much food.”

“I could eat a horse after all that.” Ten yawned.

“I’d like to see that.”

“A horse? With me? Johnny…” Ten’s tone turned teasing, and Johnny reciprocated quickly in English. Both of their voices were a bit higher in English, a bit softer and sweeter.

As they spoke in hushed whispers over Kun, Kun felt his body settle more deeply into the mattress. He felt Ten brushing their thumb over his navel, absently, fondly. He felt Johnny’s hand over his shoulder, his knee between Kun’s thighs. He sighed and closed his eyes, succumbing to sleep.

.

Kun woke into a dream. He had turned in his sleep, or someone had turned him, and his face was tucked against Ten’s collarbones. They smelled of sweet magnolia with a note of bergamot. When he inhaled, he thought of that wet, humid summer when they met for the first time, over a year ago now. Ten’s fingers ran through his hair, and the television was on at a low volume, providing ambient noise. The covers and pillows were all fresh, clean, and as fluffy as clouds. 

They were alone.

“Where’re Johnny and Xuxi?” Kun mumbled into Ten’s chest. His eyelids fluttered as he breathed. This close, he could hear the slow, steady pounding of Ten’s heart.

“In the living room,” Ten said. “Having dinner.”

“We should join them,” Kun slurred.

Ten brushed their lips across Kun’s forehead. “I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful.”

“Hungry,” Kun whined, brow wrinkling. His stomach gurgled in the same moment.

“You want to get up?”

Kun sighed and breathed Ten in again. Their skin was as smooth as silk, and it felt so good to be pressed up against Ten like this. He looked up and pushed himself higher onto the fluffy pillow until he could bump the tip of his nose against Ten’s affectionately. “You managed all this,” Kun whispered into Ten’s mouth.

They kissed. Kun hummed into the feeling of Ten pushing up into him, against him, and dug his fingers into Ten’s tiny waist. “I wanted to do something nice for you.”

“Why?” Kun asked.

Ten pulled back, a crease in their brow. “Because I love you,” they said. “Because I wanted to.”

Kun imagined their relationships like a spider’s web, intricate and connected but also fragile. One strong pull could break the threads apart.

“Do you ever feel like,” Kun began slowly. His chest constricted as his mind raced through the words he was about to say. Should he say them? He paused before he exhaled. When he saw the concern and love clear in Ten’s eyes, he pushed through the invisible barrier of uncertainty and continued, “Like this can’t work? Like we’re trying to keep something together that shouldn’t be kept together?” 

Ten didn’t say anything for a while, just breathing slowly and deliberately. The silence was so long that Kun almost repeated the question, thinking that Ten needed to hear it again, but then Ten shook their head and blinked, their lashes glistening with unshed tears. “No,” Ten said. “It works. Sometimes it’s hard, but it works.”

Kun hurriedly kissed Ten’s brow in apology, then each of their cheeks, then Ten’s mouth, again. “I’m sorry,” Kun said. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“If you’re really worried, we should talk about it.”

“I don’t want to upset--”

“ _ Kun _ ,” Ten said firmly, and Kun’s jaw snapped shut. “What are you thinking about?”

Kun sighed. And then he sighed again. Ten rubbed at their eyes with the heels of their hands, smearing mascara across their face. Kun’s breath shuddered at the sight, his chest inflating with a feeling that brought a burning to the backs of his eyes. He hated crying. And yet.

“Oh,” Ten whispered. “Oh, Kun. Baby. Come here.”

He buried his face into Ten’s chest and whimpered, the tears flowing freely down his face. “I’m a nomad, Ten,” he said. “I’m always in the air. Sometimes it feels like I come back to one of you and so much has changed. So much time has passed, even though it hasn’t. It’s just that everyone is growing and changing and I’m not. I...I don’t  _ connect _ .”

Ten held him securely. Even though they were smaller than Kun, they wrapped their form around him like another blanket and showered kisses into Kun’s hair. “I love you,” Ten said. “I love you so much. You  _ do  _ connect. You connect us all.”

“I love what I do,” Kun continued. “I wouldn’t trade it for nearly anything. But it’s so hard to feel like...like I don’t have a true home.”

“That’s because you have six homes,” Ten said. “You belong with all of us, and we belong with you, with each other. You connected us, Kun. You did that.”

Kun laughed even though he didn’t find anything funny about the comment. Perhaps it was true. He thought back to his time in university in Seoul, where he’d first met both Jaehyun and Johnny, who were already together by that point. Then he’d met Sicheng during his time in grad school in Beijing. He’d met Xuxi in Hong Kong. And he’d met Ten in First Class on a flight to Bangkok.

“You love so deeply and fully, Kun. It’s so special, what we all have together. And you were the catalyst.”

He smiled into Ten’s chest. Maybe Ten had a point. Not that he was the catalyst -- it always felt strange to him to think of himself as some gatherer of souls like that -- but that what they all had was special. He felt it in the way Ten held him, kissed his hair. Felt it when, moments later, Xuxi slid onto the bed without his usual puppy-like fervor to snuggle up to him from behind. Felt it when Johnny joined on Ten’s other side. 

“Thank you for this, Ten,” Kun said quietly. “This was really the best surprise.”

“I know. You deserved it,” Ten said. “I love you so much.”

_ "We _ love you,” Johnny said pointedly.

“Yeah,” Xuxi added. “And if you thought today was a rollercoaster, just wait until tomorrow.”

He laughed when Xuxi yelped at Ten reaching over to pinch him on the arm, hissing something about never telling Xuxi a secret ever again.

.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments and kudos always appreciated <3
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/andnowforyaya) | [my cc](http://curiouscat.me/andnowforyaya)


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